Research Methods for

Business Management
(MOD001105)

Module Leader: Dr Noah Karley
Email: Noah.Karley@anglia.ac.uk
Room LAB322 Ext. 5739
Teaching Objectives
At the end of this lecture/seminar you will be
familiar with:
Modules nature, aim and structure.
Modules intended learning outcomes.
Modules outline delivery.
Nature of research.
Business research and knowledge creation.
2
Introduction
Research Methods for Business and Management is
designed to help students to undertake their research
project.

It provides a clear guide on how to undertake research
as well as highlighting the realities of undertaking
research, including the more common pitfalls.

The module provides students a guide to the research
process and with the necessary knowledge and skills to
undertake a piece of research from thinking of a research
topic to writing their project report.

As such, students will find it useful as a manual or
handbook on how to tackle their research project.

3
Introduction
At the end of the course students will have been
introduced to and explored a range of approaches,
strategies, techniques and procedures with which
they could tackle their research project.

Students will know that there is no one best way for
undertaking all research. Rather they will be aware
of the choice they will have to make and how this
choice will impact upon what they can find out.

Students will be able to make an informed choice
about the approaches, strategies, techniques and
procedures that are most suitable to their own
research project and be able to justify this choice.
4
Introduction
Modules title includes the term methods to refer to
techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyse
data. This, includes questionnaires, observation and
interviews as well as both quantitative (statistical) and
qualitative (non-statistical) analysis.

In contrast, the term methodology refers to the theory
of how research should be undertaken.

It is important that students have some understanding
of this so that they can make an informed choice about
their research. For this reason, in this module we will
also discuss a range of philosophical assumptions upon
which research can be based and the implications of
these for the method or methods adopted.
5
Nature of Research
Research has a number of characteristics:
Data are collected systematically.
Data are interpreted systematically.
There is a clear purpose: to find things out.

We can define research as something that people
undertake in order to find out things in a systematic
way, thereby increasing their knowledge.

Systematic suggests that research is based on
logical relationships and not just beliefs.
To find out things suggests there are a multiplicity
of possible purposes for your research.
6
Business and Management Research
We can define business and management research
as undertaking systematic research to find out things
about business and management.

Four things combine to make business and
management a distinctive focus for research:

The way in which managers (and researchers) draw
on knowledge developed by other disciplines.

The fact that managers tend to be powerful and
busy people. Therefore, they are unlikely to allow
research access unless they can see personal or
commercial advantages.
7
Business and Management Research
The fact that managers are educated. Many now have
undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and, as such,
tend often to be as well educated as those conducting
research about them.

The requirement for the research to have some practical
consequence. This means it either needs to contain the
potential for taking some form of action or needs to take
account of the practical consequences of the findings.
8
Knowledge Creation
In the past decade debate about the nature of
management research has focused on how it can meet the
double hurdle of being both theoretically and
methodologically rigorous, while at the same time
embracing the world of practice and being of practical
relevance.

Approach I. Knowledge creation emphasises research in
which the questions are set and solved by academic
interests, emphasising a fundamental rather than applied
nature, where there is little if any focus on utilisation of the
research by practitioners.

9
Knowledge Creation
Approach II. Research offers a way of bringing the supply
side of knowledge represented by universities together
with the demand side represented by businesses and
overcoming the double hurdle.

Approach III. Knowledge production focuses on an
appreciation of the human condition as it is and as it might
become, its purpose being to assure survival and promote
the common good at various levels of social aggregation.
10
Knowledge Creation: Pure Research
Basic , fundamental or pure research.

Research that is undertaken purely to understand
the processes of business and management and
their outcomes.
Such research is undertaken largely in universities
and largely as the result of an academic agenda.
Its key consumer is the academic community, with
relatively little attention being given to its practical
applications.
11
Knowledge Creation: Applied Research
Applied research.

Research that is of direct and immediate
relevance to managers, addresses issues that they
see as important, and is presented in ways that
they understand and can act on.

12
Aim of the Module
This module provides course participants with the
appropriate knowledge, skills and abilities they will
need to effectively carry out a piece of small scale
business/management research.

A particular emphasis will be placed upon
developing individuals towards their Masters
dissertation/project.


13
Aim of the Module
A focus is given to the specific issues faced by
managers and researchers when carrying out
research in an organisational setting. These will
include the philosophical aspects of enquiry in
social settings, operating in political contexts,
negotiating access to key individuals and data, and
meeting the research outcomes expected by
multiple organisational stakeholders.
14
Aim of the Module
Consequently, this module will focus on
providing individuals with the necessary
skills to meet these challenges and therefore
effectively plan, carry out and report upon
their Masters level dissertation/project.
15
Intended Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding.

Demonstrate a critical awareness of
different research designs and respective
methodologies relevant to academic and
practitioner researchers working within an
international context.

16
Intended Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding.

Explain their chosen research
question/hypothesis and research objectives,
and all the relevant elements contributing to
a research proposal suitable to researching a
contemporary international business topic.

17
Intended Learning Outcomes
Intellectual, practical, affective and
transferable skills.

Critically evaluate the literature relevant to
your research aims in order to develop a
conceptual framework or critical stance.

18
Intended Learning Outcomes
Intellectual, practical, affective and
transferable skills.

Act as an independent self-learner
demonstrate the skills necessary to plan,
organise, undertake and present an
international business project.

19
Outline Delivery
20
Lecture 1
Module overview, nature of management research

Lecture 2
Formulating and clarifying the research topic

Lecture 3
Critically reviewing academic literature and academic writing

Lecture 4
Research philosophies and approaches
Outline Delivery
Lecture 5
Negotiating access and research ethics

Lecture 6
Collecting data through observation and interviews

Lecture 7
Collecting data through questionnaires

Lecture 8
Selecting samples 21
Outline Delivery
Lecture 9
Analysing quantitative and qualitative data

Lecture 10
Using secondary data

Lecture 11
Writing and presenting your project report

Lecture 12
Assignment review 22
Lecture 2: Research Topic
Lecture 2 will assists you in the generation of
ideas, which will help you to choose a suitable
research topic, and offers advice on what makes a
good research topic.

After your idea has been generated and refined,
we will discuss how to turn this idea into a clear
research question(s) and objectives.
23
Lecture 3: Literature Review
Lecture 3 evaluates what a critical review needs to
include and the range of primary, secondary and
tertiary literature sources available.

We will explain purpose of reviewing the
literature, how to discuss a range of search
strategies, and how to plan and undertake your
search and to write your review.
24
Lecture 4: Approaches
Lecture 4 addresses the issue of understanding different
research philosophies, including positivism, realism,
interpretivism and pragmatism. Within this the
functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist and radical
structuralist paradigms are discussed.

Lecture 4 will challenge you to think about your own values
and how you view the world and the impact this will have
on the way you undertake your research.
25
Lecture 5: Ethics
In Lecture 5 we will explore issues related to gaining access
and to research ethics.
We will discuss how to gain access both to organisations
and to individuals using both traditional and Internet-
mediated strategies.
In addition, potential ethical issues will be discussed in
relation to each stage of the research process and different
data collection methods.
Issues of data protection will be introduced.
26
Lecture 6: Observations and Interviews
Lectures 6 is concerned with collecting primary data
through observation. Practical advices are offered, and
particular attention is given to ensuring that the data you
obtain are both valid and reliable.

In addition, we will discuss how to collect primary data,
through interviews. The appropriateness of using these
interviews in relation to research strategy is discussed.
Particular attention is given to ensuring that the data
collected are both reliable and valid.
27
Lecture 7: Questionnaires
Lecture 7 deals with self-administered and interviewer-
administered questionnaires, and explores their
advantages and disadvantages.

Practical advice is offered on the process of designing,
piloting and administering data through questionnaires.
Particular attention is again given to ensuring that the data
collected are both reliable and valid.
28
Lecture 8: Selecting Samples
In Lecture 8 we will introduce the two basic approaches to
sampling: probabilistic and non-probabilistic. If the purpose
of your research is to draw conclusions or make predictions
affecting the population as a whole, then you must a use
probabilistic sampling approach.

If we are only interested in seeing how a small group,
perhaps even a representative group, is doing for purposes
of illustration or explanation, then we can use a non-
probabilistic sampling approach.

29
Lecture 9: Analysing Quantitative Data
Lecture 9 illustrates the main issues that we need to
consider when preparing data for quantitative analysis and
when analysing these data by computer. Methods will be
given on how to offer analysis of these data using
computer-based analysis software.

The most appropriate diagrams to explore and illustrate
data are discussed and suggestions are made about the
most appropriate statistics to use to describe data, to
explore relation- ships and to examine trends.
30
Lecture 10: Secondary Data
In Lecture 10 we will discuss the use of secondary
data. These statistics can be useful to researchers
because they are an easily obtainable and
comprehensive source of information that usually
covers long periods of time.

31
Lecture 11
Lecture 11 deals with the structure, content and
style of the final project report.

Lecture 12

Lecture 12 offers a review and assignment advices.




32
References
Gay, L. R. Mills, G. E. and Airasian. P. W. (2008).
Educational Research: Competencies for
Analysis and Applications. Harlow: Prentice
Hall.

Saunders, M. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012).
Research Methods for Business Students.
Harlow: Prentice Hall.

33 33